2 men die in central Vietnam floods

Water almost reaches the rooftop of a house in Quang Binh Province on Tuesday. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Tao

Nearly 20,000 houses are under water following the second major floods to hit the region in just two weeks.

At least two people have been killed by flooding in the central province of Quang Binh in the wake of the second major floods to hit the region in just two weeks.

A 53-year-old man died after falling out of his boat on Monday, and a 78-year-old man was swept away in a flash flood the same day while he was on his way to collect donations for the previous flooding.

Fishing boats have also capsized but all the crews have been rescued.

Major highways in the province are under water up to one meter, cutting off traffic.

The north-south railway running through the province has also suffered minor damage to around 700 meters of track, but trains are still running given the insignificant damage.

In neighboring provinces, Ha Tinh has reported 2,745 houses flooded and 2,003 are under water in Quang Tri, where at least one person is also reported missing.

More misery

People living next to the raging Giang River in Quang Binh Province are being forced to take refuge on their rooftops with rising water just half a meter away.

Neighbors have been climbing along electric cables to travel between houses if they want to borrow things from each other.

Torrential rains triggered by a cold spell last weekend had flooded more than 15,000 houses in Quang Binh by up to three meters as of Tuesday afternoon, and it's the second flood disaster to hit the area in just two weeks.

“It’s so miserable having to deal with two floods in 15 days,” said Tran Thi Thoi, sitting on the second floor of her house on Tuesday.

She was eating a lunch of rice and salt as there’s no way to cook food. She could not even cook the rice properly so her children preferred dry instant noodles instead.

Two weeks ago, a tropical depression triggered non-stop rains that killed 31 people and flooded 92,000 houses in Quang Binh and 5,000 houses in Ha Tinh.